My name is Maya
by vixen the cat
Summary: When Chaos Control sent Knuckles to Earth, he wasn't expecting his 13 year-old daughter to follow him through. Now, Knuckles needs to find Maya quickly, but some unexpected side-affects from her travel might make her hard to recognize...HIATUS until I create a reboot.
1. My name is Maya

**My name is Maya**

I concentrated all my energy on the small patch of grass. The one with the light pink flower sticking out of it. My mother stood a little less than five feet away, watching my every move, taking mental notes on what needed work. Her light violet eyes narrowed, ready to carefully analyze every move I made as I held up my hands, about to begin. I thrust my hands out towards the selected piece of grass… and concentrated. In my minds' eye I could see the flower slipping easily out of the ground, maybe carrying a small chunk of ground with it, un-aided by my still hands.

I furrowed my eyebrows, and concentrated even harder. I would not mess up. I would get it right this time. I grinned as I heard a satisfying '_rriiippp!'_ from the space in front of me. Keeping my concentration, I slowly opened my deep violet eyes. I had to refrain from shouting a triumphant 'yes!' because that was a concentration ruiner.

Floating before me, bathed in a magenta light, was a small chunk of ground beneath some very green grass, and… the pink flower I had been aiming for. I grinned and used my telekinesis to slowly bring the mound closer. I used my mitten-enclosed hand to pluck the flower, slowly guiding the mound back to where I had pulled it from. I turned to my mom, and, jokingly, got down on one knee to hand her the flower.

"For you, m'lady!" I said, bowing down as I handed her the flower. She smiled, but it was a I'm-worried-about-your-training smile. One of her more distant ones. Mom accepted the flower, and I watched hesitantly as she placed it in her glowing headband. The one with the strange pink symbol on it. The one that was just like mine.

I sighed deeply at her vacant state.

"What did I do wrong _this_ time?" I wonder aloud in annoyance.

"You are improving Maya, you really are," She starts off in that motherly voice of encouragement. "But you need to work more on your speed with the power. If you really work at it, you'll get to where you only need to have a single thought before your powers kick in. That could give you a large advantage in battle." She states matter-of-factly.

"Mom, I've never been in a battle before. Angel Island is almost the most peaceful place on Mobius." I protested.

"It is now, and may have been for over thirteen years, but there will be a day when someone decides they have to have the Master Emerald for whatever purposes. When that day comes, you need to be ready." She says in that motherly way that for whatever reason convinces me that she is and always has been right.

"But, I thought dad-" I started, before getting cut off.

"Your father is a great Guardian, but we will need all the help we can get if someone like Dr. Eggman shows up for their nefarious purposes." She interrupted.

I glared.

"Fine, I'll work on it." I muttered, letting my hands fall to my sides. Mom puts a black gloved hand on my shoulder, and guides me back to the temple many refer to as 'Mystic Ruin'.

Looking up the stairwell leading to the Master Emerald, I could just barely make out the shape of my father, reclining against one of the remaining stone pillars.

"Come on." My mother says to me, taking my arm and motioning to the small cottage just beyond the forest that we all lived in. I use the word 'lived', but, really, it only served as a place to sleep and eat food. Most of the time, we all had stuff going on. I had to learn the power of the Nocturnus clan and learn to control the strength inherited from my father. My parents had decided on a 'teaching plan' where I would learn each of the skills they wanted me to learn in shifts.

My parents took me in shifts.

A few minutes later, we were standing in the kitchen and I was helping to prepare dinner- a fruit salad. I peeled and took out the seeds of orange after orange in near silence. I heard the sound of my mother's knife against the cutting-board, and the satisfying 'plunk!' when I dropped a seed into the cup sitting on the counter beside me. After a few minutes, I noticed something else, too. My mother was humming.

She only did that when she was completely content. I resolved not to speak until she had finished her song. I grabbed the ever-helpful trashcan under the kitchen sink and dumped the pile of orange peels that had been gathering on the counter. Abruptly the humming stopped, and I turned to my mother with uncertainty. She was staring out the window at something.

Following her gaze, I saw that my father had left the stairwell of the Alter. Not only that, but there was another Mobian there, talking with him. I vaguely recognized him as one of my father's.. um… _acquaintances_. He would get mad if I had referred to Sonic as a 'friend'.

Sonic appeared to be trying to persuade dad to do something… I wasn't sure what it was, but I had a sinking feeling in my stomach about what would happen if he had agreed. Mom was startled out of her stupor by me.

"What's going on?" I muttered. She looked at me as if just realizing I was there.

She almost ran outside, yelling "Knuckles!" From the window, I could see that Sonic was being very persuasive in whatever he was talking about. Dad must have had a score to settle with someone, because I could see him beginning to nod at what Sonic was saying.

I was worried, and it was this worry that prompted me to do what I never should have done: I followed him. I lay awake after dinner, and as soon as I heard footsteps, I quietly snuck out of bed. I was in the kitchen, hiding under the dining table. Mother's stealth lessons had not been wasted. I could see my father's red, yellow, green and gray sneakers as he turned and whispered into the darkness, "Goodbye Shade, Maya. I'll see you soon." Then, just like that, he was gone.

But so was I.

A half-hour later, the game of 'evade dad' was starting to get boring as he was making it very easy to be followed. But we had reached our destination, so it seemed. A large tower stretched up into the looming darkness. Alarms had been sounded in the tower, and I could see a flaming… something fly around from my front-row-seat behind a large boulder. The 'something' turned out to be a plane with two more of my father's 'acquaintances' on board.

I recognized the fox to be Tails, Sonic's best friend. The bright pink hedgehog would be hard to forget, and I knew her to be the hammer-swinging girl that had an undeniably huge crush on Sonic. I then realized how close I was to my father, and quietly retreated to a few close trees.

"Knuckles!" The yellow fox had exclaimed when my father saved his behind from ultimate doom. "Am I glad to see you!"

My father stared at him coldly. I smirked. He couldn't be away from the Master Emerald for more than five minutes without becoming angry at the world. I knew my dad, and he wasn't one to abandon a job. Especially not one this important.

"What's _his _problem?" Amy asked huffily. I was near enough to hear my father's next comment.

"Overkill. Just like always." He muttered stoically, crossing his red-furred arms as he glared at the tall building surrounded by robots. The next minute was uneventful, as I sat drawing random pictures in the dirt with a stick.

Suddenly, one of Amy's comments caught my attention enough to deserve a possible glance.

"What _is_ that?" I couldn't help it. I gasped and dropped my stick. The whole building began spouting light from all directions. A large amount began to slowly, but with increasing speed, begin to engulf the space around it. I was sure that the light would be seen from Angel Island. The noise I made was too loud. It was just enough to make my dad swivel his head around to look straight at me.

I gulped. Bus-ted.

"Maya?" He asked in shock. Amy and Tails stared at me, too.

I nodded uncertainly.

He was suddenly angry, and then fearful as the light got closer. "Maya! Get out of here! Run!" He shouted, but it was too late. The light had gotten me too. I watched as it gobbled up my legs first, then the rest of me. I was too caught up in the pandemonium to notice that I had tripped, and fallen. The last thing I heard was my father shouting my name.

"Maya! NOOO!"

And then, it was all gone. All of it. Although, one thing does remain.

My name is Maya.

**So, how was it? Please R&R! Enjoy! **


	2. Strange Happenings

**Strange happenings**

It was only a week after my 13th birthday that I noticed something was wrong. Not really _wrong_ actually, just… different. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, trying to figure it out. A freckled face framed by unruly red hair with orange-ish highlights stared back at me. I had always looked like this, so why was it bothering me now? Maybe it was just a part of being a teenager. I absent-mindedly rubbed the two nearly invisible bumps on my left hand.

I sighed and closed my puzzled lilac eyes. I had noticed something about five years ago, when I was eight: I didn't look like anyone in my family. Mom had straight black hair that fell past her shoulders, and soft emerald green eyes. Dad had aquamarine eyes of the best clarity possible, and light brown hair that could be combed through in a matter of seconds.

I was also the only one I knew with purple eyes.

This factor didn't exactly strive to make anything easier at school. At first, I thought my eyes were cool because they were different, but my classmates had easily changed that for me. I didn't try to hide them behind contacts, though. I was way too stubborn for that.

I did have a few close friends, though. Jason, Alex, and Morgan made things a lot easier.

"Maya!" My mother called, causing my strange eyes to snap open. "You're going to be late if you don't get down her soon!"

Crap! I had wasted fifteen minutes on my useless pondering! I mentally slapped myself before running out of the bathroom, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. I grabbed my bagel off the plate laying on the counter, stuffed it into my mouth, slung my backpack over my shoulder, and was out the door before my mom could remind me to put my shoes on.

I had to run back to the house and grab my blue, black, and yellow striped sneakers. Before long, I was outside again, running as I munched down on my bagel. I sped down the route to my school, hoping to make it before the bell rang. I stopped abruptly to grab at a stitch in my side.

"Oww! Cramp… Ok!" Two seconds and it was strangely gone. I continued my race against time, increasing my speed as I saw the building looming ahead of me. I stopped short in front of the breakfast room waiting for that inevitable moment where I would have to bend over and try to catch my breath.

That moment never came. I peered into the large plastic windows. There were only one or two kids in the room, and no one was roaming the halls. The doors hadn't opened yet? Impossible! I can't have been going _that_ fast! I stared, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Just a few minutes ago, I was late, now I was early? What was going on here? They hadn't even unlocked the breakfast room!

One of the kids saw me looking into the window, and I saw with great relief it was my best friend Alex. Anyone else, and they would have stood at the door pretending to open it, then yelling "PSYCHE!" as they slammed it shut in my face. I grinned and waved to her. Alex smiled back and bounded over to the door, her brown curls bouncing with every step.

"You must have gotten up early today!" She commented. I glanced around nervously, just in case there was someone listening in on us. There really was no need, though. The other kid was fixated completely on his breakfast, and all the lunch ladies were on the other side of the room preparing food.

"Actually, no." I confided quietly to her. I was once again grateful it had been Alex. Morgan was an OK person to talk to, but the fact was, she just didn't listen. Jason listened, though. Perhaps a little _too_ much. He's a great guy, but the dude just can't keep a secret. Alex was the perfect person to tell, if anyone.

"I'll tell you what happened, but only if you promise to keep it an _absolute_ secret. Got it?" I asked.

"My lips are sealed, Maya." She said, making a 'zip!' motion with her hands across her lips. I grinned.

"Well, I actually woke up a little late…" I began. I watched her molten chocolate eyes widen as I explained the events of that morning.

"B-but… that means…" She stammered. "That means… you got here in under a minute!" Now my eyes were the ones widening.

"That's… that's not possible!" I muttered.

"It's either that, you teleported, or you're lying to me. You're not lying to me, are you?" She asked, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Think, Alex. Have I _ever_ told a lie? Especially to you?" She thought. Alex thought hard. I could almost see the gears in her brain turning as she struggled to remember a time I had not told the truth. Finally, she sighed in acceptance.

"No. You haven't." She whispered, looking down at the table, eyes wider than our English textbooks. I took a deep breath.

"So… you're the smart one in our little group… what does this mean?"

"I think…" She gulped, almost afraid to say it. "I think you have super-powers."

* * *

Knuckles was still angry at his daughter, Maya, for following him. It had been a week since they had first arrived in this weird world, and he still had no leads as to where she might be. His anger was more of a worried-father type. Now, he regretted not fitting her door with alarms.

* * *

Maya couldn't concentrate on schoolwork that day. She was too busy thinking about what had happened that morning. She knew her parents would be mad if they knew she hadn't been focused, even for a single day. Still, there was definitely something strange going on with her, and she had to figure out what it was.

Later in the day, during lunch, Maya was still thinking. She didn't usually think this much on one subject, but when one is told they may have possibly developed super-powers, it tends to keep in their train of thought.

"-It suits me, don't you think, Maya?"

Boom! Train of thought shattered.

"Uh… sorry, I wasn't listening. What?"

Morgan huffed, irritated that she had to go through the whole thing _again_. Maya wasn't normally one to listen too intently, but this was just ridiculous. She hadn't heard _one word_ Morgan had said. Usually, she could pick up enough information to participate in the conversation, but today… not today.

"I _said_ this new haircut suits me." Morgan repeated agitatedly, tossing the shoulder-length blond pixie cut to show it off.

"Yes… yes it does…" Maya said slowly, not sure exactly what Morgan was getting at. She knew that Morgan's styles and how she acted depended entirely on Lindsay Thorndyke, the famous actress. She was Morgan's favorite movie star, and if Lindsay Thorndyke didn't like it or wear it, neither did Morgan.

"Well, then. Maybe you should _listen_ to me more often. You've had something on your mind ever since your birthday. I don't know what it is, but something has gotten you hooked. I want you to stop being so distant, and hang out with your FRIENDS once in a while. You remember friends, don't you, Maya?" By the end of her speech, Morgan was leaning across the table, her fierce teal eyes boring into Maya's lilac ones.

"Yes, Morgan. I remember FRIENDS. I've just got a lot on my mind right now, okay?" Maya replied shakily. She wasn't sure what to make of Morgan's sudden outburst.

Maya was about to get up and leave the table when she suddenly felt so dizzy she nearly fell back into the chair. She was vaguely aware of her friends calling her name when all went dark.

There was a nearly blinding flash of light, so sudden out of the dark. Maya had to shield her eyes with one mitten-covered hand until her eyes adjusted. Her brain slightly registered the fact that she didn't wear mittens; not in March, anyways. She lowered her hand and stifled a gasp as she saw a place that seemed familiar, yet foreign.

There was a large altar made of… what was that? Steel? Marble? The Altar had stone steps leading up to….Maya racked her brain for information, but all she got was a blank slate. She took a deep breath and started up the rocky stairs. Some part of her was aware that the Altar shouldn't look like this. It shouldn't be brand-new. Nearing the top, Maya saw that the huge pillars each had a differently colored gem floating on top.

Red, blue, green, white, yellow… There were seven in all, but Maya wasn't near enough to see them all. At the summit, Maya couldn't hold in a gasp. There was a gigantic green gem in the middle of the circle of floating, glowing stones. Slowly, she approached it, reaching out to touch it.

The stone was… it was magical. As soon as her mitten-enclosed hand touched it, the gem began pulsing… light. Maya didn't know what it was about this gem, but it seemed… it seemed like home. She felt safe, just by being near it. Suddenly, a feminine voice began to speak. Maya looked for the source, until she realized it was the gemstone speaking to her.

"The servers are the seven chaos…"

R&R, Please!


	3. flashes of the otherworldly kind

**Flashes of the otherworldly kind.**

"Ugghhh…" Pain. That was the first thing I noticed. Man, my head hurt! I opened my eyes to migraine inducing bright light. I immediately snapped them shut, and proceeded to slowly adjust to my surroundings.

I blinked. Twice. I could see a girl sitting next to me, worriedly looking towards me, then away again. After a few more seconds, I finally recognized her.

"Alex!" My voice sounded scratchy and weak. She jumped at the sudden noise, and ran over to hug me.

"I was so worried! Youpassedout,andIwasn'tsureifyouwereokay,soyou'vebeeninthenurse'sofficeforhoursnow,andI-"

I cut her off. "Slow down, Alex!" I laughed, and she immediately closed her mouth. "I'm okay! Really, I am. My head hurts a little, but it's nothing." I shrugged off the fact that I felt like my head was being cracked open. I didn't need Alex to worry about me too much. She took a deep breath and continued.

"Morgan and Jason wanted to stay too, but the nurse said only one of us could. We both have science with Mr. Graves after lunch, so I got to stay."

"How long have I been out?" I asked, massaging my temples to see if that would help. It didn't. Not all at once, anyway. Alex looked at the clock, and cocked her head.

"mmm… About two hours. Why?"

"You've been sitting here for _two hours_!?" I asked in astonishment, ignoring the question.

"Well,_ someone_ had to be here to explain what happened."

"So… they just… let you stay in here?"

"Yes."

"For nearly two class periods?"

"Yup."

"… The nurse doesn't know you're still here, does she?" Alex sighed in defeat.

"No. She doesn't." She answered reluctantly.

I leaned back against the cheap pillow, and debated on whether or not to tell Alex about the strange 'dream' I had.

"So… do you have any idea about what caused me to pass out?" I ask, almost casually, putting my hands behind my head. She looked puzzled. Probably because I was so calm.

"No. It was strange, you stood up and before anyone even knew what was happening, you were slumped down on the table." Her eyes suddenly widened. "Hey… do you think it has anything to do with…" She looked around for anyone who could possibly hear. Finding no one, she continued.

"Your powers?" She asked in a low voice. Now my eyes were widening. I sat up, and wondered about the possibility.

"Maybe… but we don't even know if I _do_ have powers, I mean it could have just been that I thought it was the time, but it wasn't…" Now I was rambling, excited about something I wasn't sure of. I could see Alex thinking, the gears turning at hyper-speed. Suddenly, she snapped her fingers.

"Maya! Did you have any dreams? While you were asleep?" She was excited now, and we were both into it so much we didn't notice the nurse enter the room.

"Yeah! Actually I did! It was so weird, there was this-" I stopped as the nurse cleared her throat. The nurse was a portly woman. Taller than me, but shorter than Alex. She had slightly tanned skin, and her dark hair was pulled into a messy mass of tangled, curly ponytail. Her voice was tinny, and high.

"Well, Maya. You seem to be doing much better for one who has spontaneously collapsed in the middle of lunchtime." She sounded suspicious. I cleared my throat.

"Um… yeah… Alex helped me feel better. I only woke up about…" I glanced at the clock. "Two minutes ago. She told me a few jokes, you know… laughter is the best remedy and all that… heh heh…"

"MmHmm." She wasn't convinced. I could tell that much just by looking at her hard glare.

"Well, then, since you are all better now, maybe Alex should go to class." The nurse spoke with such a fierce tone that Alex was out the door before the sentence was finished. She smirked, and looked down at the clipboard she held.

"Now, I've called your parents, and your father was busy, but your mother will arrive in about three minutes, so I suggest you gather your bearings." My eyes widened.

"You called my mom?"

"Well, we can't have a student pass out without notifying the parents." She grinned and left the room. I put my head in my hands. Mom was going to kill me. She was probably going to give me an earlier bedtime. The problem was, it wasn't because of lack of sleep that I passed out. It was… something else. What, I didn't know. I took a deep breath, and put my shoes back on.

During the ride back home, mom drilled into my brain that I needed more sleep. It was just as I had suspected.

"You need to get more sleep! I know you have a hard time with that, so I am going to cut your bedtime down. I want ready, and under the covers by eight thirty. Got that? Eight thirty, young lady!" I ignored her and stared out the window.

I was watching uninterestedly as the sidewalk passed by when a strangely familiar blue streak rushed by our car. My eyes widened, and I leaned forward hoping to catch a glimpse of… whatever it was. I slumped back in my seat. Whatever it was, I had missed it.

"Maya! Are you listening?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. What was that you were saying?" She was silent for an unusually long time. Then, she said something that made my blood run cold.

"You've been… distant lately. We need to sit down and have a little chat, work out our differences. So, I've signed us up for family therapy." Oh, great.

"What? Why would you do that?"

"It's only a trial period. One month's worth. Two days a week. If it isn't working, I'll pull us out. If it is working, but we need more than a month, we keep going. Trust me, honey. It's for the best."

It's for the best. If only I could believe you, mom.

Knuckles was immensely irritated. He had searched everywhere in the surrounding area. How hard could it _possibly_ be to find his own daughter? Apparently, it was extremely challenging. So, he did something that he _really_ didn't want to do. Ever. He asked Sonic to help.

Sonic was fast, he could cover a large area in a few minutes, and he was very observant. And really, who else _was_ there? Amy would 'get around to it', Cream was too young, Tails and the Tornado would be okay, he supposed. It didn't really matter _who_ it was, because Knuckles knew Sonic would just hear about it anyway.

This didn't mean they were _friends_ or anything like that, of course.

At home, I went straight to my room and flopped down on the bed. "Ugghhh…" I groaned. Then, just for the heck of it, I groaned again. BBRRRIIIIINNNGGGG! I jumped, and grabbed my cell phone from my backpack that was lying just a few feet away. I checked the caller ID in case it was just some company trying to sell… I don't know… Car Insurance, or whatever.

It wasn't GEICO, believe it or not. It was Alex. I smirked, should have known. Flipping open the phone, I bounced back onto the bed.

"Hello?"

"Maya?" I rolled my eyes.

"No, ma'am, it iz zee credit card company come to tell you. You have not payed zee insuranze! You 'ave been naughty girl!" I waggled my finger, just to make it seem more legitamite.

"What? I'm sorry, must have been a wrong num-" Alex's confused voice was cut off by my giggling.

"S-sorry… I couldn't resist…" I managed to get out, between my laughing fits.

"Maya!" Alex hissed angrily into the phone. Her tone softened a bit. "I called to see if you were feeling better. Which, apparently, you are completely fine." I giggled a bit more at this.

"Alex, I never felt sick to begin with. In fact, I felt really good. That is, until I woke up."

"Why, did you hit your head on something in that dream of yours?" She was being sarcastic now. For Alex, that was rare.

"No. Although, there was a talking gem that has gotten me to question my sanity." She spluttered for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"A… talking… gem?" She asked slowly. I could tell she wasn't sure she had heard right.

"Yup!" I said as if it was the most normal thing in the world. The thing that scared me was… I actually felt like it _was_ normal.

"And… what did this… _talking rock…_say?" Boy, Alex was sure having a hard time getting past the talking rock.

"It said… 'The servers are the seven Chaos…'" She was silent for a few minutes, processing this. She was quiet for so long, I actually thought she had hung up on me.

"Hello? Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"I thought you hung up…"

"Nope. That's just… well, it's just a strange thing for a rock to say."

"Gem." I corrected. "An emerald, actually." What? Where did _that_ come from? I cleared my throat. "So, Alex. Have you spoken with gems before?"

"Wait, what?"

"You said it was a strange thing for a rock to say. This, of course, implies you have spoken to a rock before." I joked.

"Maya, this is serious!"

"Okay, okay!" There was silence on both ends for a while. I decided to ask another question. "So, what do you think I should with this vast amount of information?"

"Take it to a mental Hospital." I mentally slapped myself. See what I did there? No? Okay… just keep reading then, I guess….

"… what if I don't wanna?" Alex sighed and said she would think about what my dream gem had said. We joked around a bit more, but the humor was tense and forced. After a few failed tries, we just hung up. 'See you later,' 'Goodbye', you know the drill.

After that, I just put on some pajamas, lay down in bed, turned the lights off. Goodnight, problems. I will most definitely see you in the morning.

There was light… I could see it behind my closed eyelids, a sunset orange color. I blinked. The sky? What was that doing there? Wasn't I in my room…? I blinked, and sat up. Wait… it was those old ruins from my dream! I stood up, and looked around, seeing I was in a clearing at the center of a forest.

Above the trees, I could see two huge mountains just beyond the altar. I traveled up the stone steps, and walked over towards the unusually large emerald at the peak. I wasn't entirely sure what I should be doing at that moment, so I sat down next to the emerald, tucked in my knees, and waited.

I didn't have to wait for long. Almost as soon as I had gotten comfortable, I heard people approaching. I gasped, and stood up, hiding behind one of the large pillars around the emerald. I couldn't really see much, but I heard the voice of a girl… she was pleading for something.

"Father, please! We can't use the Chaos Emeralds to bring harm upon others in order to save ourselves! It's _wrong_!" I silently agreed with her. I wasn't sure what a chaos emerald was, but it sounded powerful. If it was used to hurt others… then I could be certain that the hands that held it were the wrong ones.

**So, Please R&R! Constructive criticism is appreciated, and flames will be used to make smores or hot cocoa. Whichever one I can reach first. Have a nice day! **


	4. realization

**Realization**

I heard some more arguing, and then an 'oof!' as the girl was pushed to the ground. I stifled a gasp. What kind of father would shove his own child for power? Suddenly, I was angry. At who, I wasn't exactly sure. The girl's father? I didn't know why, but I wanted to punch him. I ran out from my hiding place, but soon stopped when I realized they couldn't see me.

I also realized that the people I had heard weren't human. Yet… they somehow seemed familiar. Almost like… family. My breath caught at that thought. Memories flashed behind my now-closed eyelids. My parents… my real parents. They were from another world… _I_ was from another world!

I remembered my mother teaching me how to levitate objects, my father telling me not to put _too_ much force into my punches. The thing I remembered most clearly, though, was the night it all went wrong. When I followed my father to the tall building… how scared he looked when he saw me there. I wished that I could let him know I was safe.

Still, something didn't add up. I had been living with my human family for thirteen years. Why did I also have memories of a different thirteen years? I put my head in my hands. This was too much to go through in the course of two minutes.

Standing up, I opened my eyes to bright light… and a girl. She was of my species, which I wasn't sure what species that was yet. She was dressed in what looked like ancient fashion. She had a golden headband, a plain white sleeveless shirt, and a diamond print skirt. She smiled at me.

I smiled back, unsure.

"Hello, Maya." She said in a soft tone.

"Hi. Um…?"

"Oh! Sorry, my name is Tikal."

"Hi Tikal. What am I doing here?" She just smiled again.

"I believe you already know the answer to that question."

"Okay, um… I'm here to… learn about myself?" I asked. Tikal nodded.

"I can answer a few questions, but there are many you must find the truth to on your own." I nodded.

"These memories… are they all my own?"

"Yes. I cannot correctly tell you how you have managed to live two different lives in one time period, however." I sighed. So many questions, most unanswered.

"Ok." I sat down again. "Is my dad alright?" Tikal smiled at me again.

"Your father, Knuckles is very tough. He is fine, don't worry." She reassured me. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good. I wouldn't want him to get hurt. Especially because of me." She sat down next to me and gave my arm a gentle squeeze.

"Everything will be okay, don't worry Maya." I smiled gratefully at her, and she looked up at the sky. At least, I thought it was the sky. It's hard to tell when everything is white. She looked at me once more.

"It's time for us to part ways, Maya. It was nice speaking with you." She smiled her gentle smile for the last time that night, and everything faded to black.

* * *

I opened my eyes to my 'mother' standing over my bed, arms crossed, looking stern. I blinked innocently.

"Young lady, you are late!"

I barely managed to get out a confused, "whaaa..?" Before she was Commando mom again.

"You have five minutes to be in the car, or it's a tardy slip on your permanent record." I groaned, and swung my legs over the side of the bed.

"Okay, I'm getting ready."

"Good." She smiled, told me she loved me, and left the room.

I quickly pulled on a t-shirt and jeans, sneakers, and grabbed my backpack.

* * *

"I think I should skip school today." Alex nearly did a spit-take, her pretty brown eyes widened in astonishment as she stared at me open-mouthed.

"What?" I asked nonchalantly.

"What do you _mean_ 'what?'" She asked, completely bewildered. I shrugged, and motioned for her to continue.

"You've _never_ skipped before! You could get in trouble!" She hissed, in a whisper.

"So what?" I shrugged again. "It's not like I'm supposed to be here, anyway."

"What?"

"It turns out I'm from another world. Earth science, history… it just doesn't apply." I shrugged again, and waited for Alex's reaction.

"Okaay… I'm starting to think you are just crazy, and you passed out because of too much sugar intake." I glared at her.

"I can show you the speed thing after school, if you need proof." She took a deep breath.

"Fine. If it will help, fine. Want to meet at the meadow?"

"Yes, it's perfect!" The meadow is a large patch of grass behind Alex's house. It's surrounded by a grove of trees, so no one will be able to see us.

* * *

After school, I told my 'mom' I was going to Alex's house for a project. Technically, the truth. We said hello to her mom, and headed outside towards the meadow. Alex brought her ipod so she could tape me and 'show me I was normal'.

"Soo… what happens now?" I asked, rocking back and forth on my heels. Alex shrugged.

"I guess you just… run to the other side of the meadow… or something."

"Okay." We both knew that if I was just a regular person as Alex suspected, it would take me awhile. The meadow was at least a quarter mile across. I crouched into a racing position. Alex pulled up the camera app on her ipod, and switched to video.

"Aaandd… GO!" She shouted, pushing the video button.

I took off as soon as the word was out of her mouth. Before I knew what was happening, I was sprinting. I let out a whoop of joy which soon turned to alarm as I opened my eyes and saw the trees fast approaching.

"WAAAHH!" I yelled, slamming my eyes shut and skidding as I tried to stop. I waited to slam into something hard and wooden. Amazingly, I didn't. I slowly opened one eye, and then the other. And then I backed up a bit.

I was standing very close to a centimeter away from the tree. I wiped imaginary sweat from my brow.

"Whew. That was a close one!" I turned around to face my now wide-eyed friend. Cupping my hands around my mouth, I yelled, "HOW DID I DO?"

"GET OVER HERE!" She yelled back. I was over quickly, remembering to stop this time.

"Watch this." She said, thrusting the ipod into my hands. The video was about 30 seconds long. It showed me with a determined grin on my face in my racer position, Alex shouting 'go!', a redish blur, then me at the other end of the clearing, close to making out with a tree. Alex watched it over my shoulder, still bug-eyed.

"Sooo…" I pushed, waiting for Alex to spit out some scientific conclusion.

"Give me that!" She said, grabbing the ipod from me. Then she watched the video over. And over, and over, and over again. After about fifteen minutes, she sighed in defeat.

"Alright, I give up. Either you are an alien, a super-kid, or I'm just on drugs."

"You forgot to factor in dreams." I pointed out. "Not that this _is_ a dream, of course." I countered quickly, hoping she wasn't getting any ideas.

"Maya? Maybe you should go home. I want to analyze this video some more!"

"Okay. You won't tell anyone, right?" I asked, a seed of doubt in my mind. However, they were cleared when she shook her head.

"I wouldn't do that. Jeez, Maya! You think I'd go around telling everyone my best friend has superpowers? What kind of person do you think I am?!" I giggled a little.

"A very nice one. Still, I better not find this on youtube, or something." I joked. She glared. I shut up. "Well, see you tomorrow!" I said in quick finality, not willing to have my body burned in the heat of rage Alex.

* * *

I went to bed that night trying to think of ways I could tell my human parents that I wasn't really _their_ child. Or was I? I had grown up here on Earth, but I had also grown up on Mobius. Did that mean I had four parents? Oh man, this was confusing. I flopped my face into my pillow, and let out a groan.

I rolled over and muttered to myself, "Am I a part of _this_ world? Am I a part of Mobius? Which world do I belong in?" I curled into a ball and wondered if Tikal could answer any of the questions I had.

I unfurled myself and drew the covers, falling into a gradual deep sleep. As I had hoped, Tikal was waiting for me.

**Okay, so Knuckles wasn't in this chapter. Sorry for all who wanted to hear about what he's doing. I haven't exactly figured that out myself yet… -.-' **

**Anywho, thanks to ShifterGirl, GoldenBullet, and all three Guest users for reviewing! Constructive criticism is wanted, flames will be used for keeping my house warm. Please R&R! Thnx for reading, everyone! **


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